Honors Physics: Engine Design Project

Group Members: Project Title:

The goal of this project is for your group to apply and extend all the ideas we've discussed about energy and
work and thermodynamics in this last unit as you design and analyze an engine. Remember: Documentation
is everything!

These are the steps you'll follow:

Design and describe an engine (or borrow and modify the design of an existing one) which in its
operation

takes in some form of energy

transforms at least some of the energy input to useful work

exhausts what remains of the input energy to the surrounding environment

employs one or more simple machines in its operation (optional but extra credit)

accomplishes the steps above in a repeating cycle (optional but extra credit)

Produce a drawing and a working model of your engine noting

dimensions

materials

how simple machines are incorporated in the design of your device (optional but extra credit)

any means by which the engine's state could help regulate the engine's operation by automatically
opening or closing valves, governing speed, lubricating itself, etc.

Plan and carry out measurements on your engine to determine or justify estimates of

what the "working substance" employed by your engine is and what changes it undergoes during the
engine's operation

what the sources of inefficiency are and what could be done to reduce energy losses to these.

Produce a record of

brainstorming done in creating your design and solving problems in its construction and analysis

plan and timetable you implemented to complete this project

what role each team member played in the project

time spent on each phase

what outside resources you utilized in your solution

Scoring: Projects will be awarded up to 24 points for each of the four parts listed above. See the Project Scoring Rubric attached. Completeness,accuracy, care, and the documented involvement of all team members will be the basis for awarding points. To earn at least 80% teams must show through their behavior in class and written records that
they are actively engaged on the project in physics class on each day until the due date. Up to 15 Bonus
Points will be awarded for ingenious designs or efforts which go beyond the minimum requirements.